WASHINGTON, D.C. – Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, today announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has provided almost $150,000 in Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) funding for two Montana counties.

“Montanans know the toll Mother Nature can have on their farms and ranches,” said Rehberg, a member of the House Appropriations Committee.   “Any funding we can provide to help folks recover from drought and other natural disasters are a big step.  We’ve been pushing USDA pretty hard on this and I’m glad to see them recognizing the needs of our state’s ag community.”

ECP gives producers additional resources to remove debris from farmland, restore fences and conservation structures, provide water for livestock in drought situations and grade and shape farmland damaged by a natural disaster. For a producer’s land to be eligible, the disaster must create new conservation problems that, if untreated, would impair or endanger the land and affect its productive capacity.

Montana counties receiving funds are:

·       $140,000 for Pondera County
·       $9,000 for Custer County

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